Playing-club.



H. v. HARDMAN.

PLAYING CLUB.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 13, 1915.

Patented Oct. 24, 1916.

TTTEM @A'Td ATEW T HERBERT V. HARDMAN', OF BELLEVILLJE, NEW JERSEY,ASSIGNOR TO THE HARDRIGHT COMPANY, OF BELLEVILLE, NEW JERSEY, ACORPORATION OF NEVJ JERSEY.

PLAYING-CLUB.

eoases.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented (lot. 24f, TQHW.

Application filed September 13, 1915. Serial No. 50,512.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HERBERT V. HARDMAN, acitizen of the United States,residing at Belleville, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey,have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Playing-Clubs, ofwhich the following is a specification.

y invention relates to playing clubs, especially golf clubs, such asdrivers and the like, in which the head of the club is formed of amolded composition.

My invention is particularly directed to improvements in such clubs inwhich the head comprises a body having a striking face and a neck formedof a single piece of molded hard resilient composition, such as onecomprising a phenolic condensation product.

My invention consists in the combination of such a head with a ferrule,in which the end of the shaft is seated, and in improvements in theferrule itself, the latter being of such a shape and configuration as topre vent cracking or rupture in the adjacent portions of the head andshaft. A portion of the ferrule is embedded in the composition of thehead, this portion having a knurled, ribbed, or otherwise roughenedsurface, and being designed to prevent cracking of the head about thesame during the a shrinking incident to the manufacture of the head. Theferrule also preferably has a portion seated upon the upper surface ofthe neck of the head, this portion having a downwardly extending edge,which coacts with the composition of the head, to equalize strains whenthe club is used in striking a ball. Also, preferably, the ferrule hasan upwardly extending neck portion forming a somewhat resilient andextended bearing for the shaft, to largely overcome shearing stresses atthe lower end of the shaft when the club is used.

In order that a clearer understanding of my invention may be had,attention is hereby directed to the accompanying drawings forming partof this application and illustrating a preferred embodiment of myinvention.

In the drawings, Figure ,1 represents a side elevation of a club head,provided with .my invention, Fig. 2 is an enlarged Vertical sectionthrough the same, the ferrule and shaft being shown in elevation,andFig. 3

p is a similar section with the ferrule also shown in centrallongitudinal section.

eferring to the drawings, the head 1 is provided with a striking face 2and a neck portion 3 in and upon which is seated the ferrule 4, whichreceives the shaft 5. The head is preferably formed of a hard,resilient, infusible, condensation product of phenol and formaldehyde,or other substance containing active methylene groups, such as isdescribed for example in patent to J. W. Aylsworth 1,020,593, March 19,1912, the condensation product being combined with a suitable inertfiller. The ferrule has its lower portion extending into the compositionof the head, which composition grips the ferrule tightly when themolding of the head is completed. Whether the composition referred to isused for the manufacture of the head, or some other plastic composition,and whether or not the head comprises a single integral piece, asstated, my invention contemplates in any case the use of a materialwhich shrinks about the ferrule when it cools or hardens. The shrinkagegrips the ferrule tightly, and would reduce the diameter of thecylindrical opening through which the ferrule extends, if the ferrulewere not present. In shrinking about the ferrule the inward stresses areequally distributed.throughout the material surrounding the ferrule, butthe inward movement of the material is resisted by the ferrule.Accordingly there isa tendency for the material to move around theferrule. If the material about the ferrule were considered as a splitring, having abutting ends, the shrinkage, decreasing the peripherallength of the ring, would cause the abutting ends of the ring toseparate. The condition is analogous in the manufacture of molded heads,as the latter are commonly made in two-part molds, and the head isweakest in the plane in which the parts of the mold abut, because thereis always more or less porosity in the material in this plane because ofthe joining of the two parts of the mold there. Consequently thetendency of the shrinkage strains is to cause the material to separateperipherally in this plane or seam, and cause cracking in this plane.

My invention aims to overcome this tendency by providing the portion ofthe ferrule within the head with a roughened or ribbed surface. Thisprevents the material about the ferrule from moving around the same as awhole, since the movement or stress around the ferrule of the materialbetween a pair of peripherally-separated ribs or roughnesses is limitedby the distance between them. The pull of the material upon a pair ofadjacent ribs is proportional to the distance between them, and if theyare sufficiently close together, this stress is insufficient to causecracking at any point. On the contrary, with a smooth'.-ferrule, thetendency for the material to crack at its weak point is measured by thenumber of units distance around the ferrule, multiplied by thecontraction per unit, which is often sufficient to cause the material toseparate or crack at the weak point, as stated.

In the drawings, the-ferrule is shown as having a downwardly extendingcylindrical portion 6 embedded in the head, the surface of this portion6 being roughened, preferably by providing the same with longitudinalclosely spaced ribbing or 'nurling 7. Portion 6 is preferably providedwith a gouged or recessed portion 8 on its periphery, or is otherwisegiven a transverse shoulder or ridge, which is gripped by thecomposition of the head, to decrease the possibility of the ferrulebeing pulled out longitudinally from the finished head. The lower end ofthe cylindrical portion 6 of the ferrule is also preferably beveled, asshown at 9. This beveled edge 9 is approximately parallel to the bottomface 10 of the head and serves two purposes, in that it permits thelower end of the ferrule being brought lower in the composition of thehead than would be possible if the ferrule had a squared end, thebeveled edge 9 also acting, in addition to the knurled or roughenedsurface 7 to prevent any possible turning of the ferrule in the head.

The ferrule preferably has a portion 11 rising aboxe the upper part ofthe head or neck in alinement with the-portion 6 of the ferrule, portion11 being comparatively thick and stiff at its lower part, but merging atits upper part into a comparatively thin cylindrical neck portion 12.The portion 11 has a lower edge 13 which extends downwardly around theupper, portion of the portion 6 of the ferrule. The outer surface of theneck portion of the head meets the edge portion 13 of the ferrule at theline 14, as shown in Fig. 1, the curvature of the neck and the ferrulebeing continuous, to present a neat and attractive appearance. Thecomposition of the head flows in molding into the annular pocket formedbetween the flange 13 of the ferrule and the upper end of thecylindrical portion 6 of the ferrule. By this construction. the stressesproduced by striking a ball are distributed between the opposite sidesof the neck, for

tends to distribute the shearing stress caused by striking a ball,throughout a length of the shaft, and that therefore there is no suchlikelihood of the shaft breaking at the edge of the ferrule, as would bethe case if the ferrule terminated a short distance above the flange 13.

The shaft 5 is forced into the ferrule and extends nearly through thesame as shown. It may be secured in place by a suitable securing means,a screw as shown at 15 being preferred. lVhen a screw is used, thelatter can be readily removed, and the shaft removed if it is desired toreplace the same, which is a difiicult matter if a pin is used,extending through the ferrule into the shaft.

It should be noted that the molded composition of which the club head iscomposed is somewhat resilient in character, the coetficient ofelasticity of the phenolic condensation product which is preferably usedbeing substantially the same as that of ivory. The circumferentialstresses set up in the material around the ferrule, when the materialshrinks in cooling or hardening, are not sufficient to cause cracking ofthe head in line with any of the ridges or protuberances on the ferrulewhich extend into the composition, because the pull or stress exertedbetween a pair of adjacent circumferentially-separated protuberances orridges is insufficient to overcome the elastic limit of the material.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire tosecure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. In a playing club, the combination of a head having a striking faceand formed of a somewhat resilient molded composition having a tendencyto shrink in cooling or hardening, and a metal ferrule adapted toreceive the end of a shaft, said ferrule having a neck portion and acylindrical portion in alinement therewith, embedded in said head, saidcylindrical portion having protuberances on its surface closely spacedover the same, and extending into the composition of the head, saidprotuberances being so arranged with relation to each other as topresent abutme'nts substantially alined in a circumferential directionto subdivide a head having a striking face, and formed and distributeabout the ferrule the circumferential shrinkage stresses of thecomposition contained between said protuberances, and to thereby preventcracking of the head in a plane parallel to the axis of the ferrule,substantially as set forth.

2. In a playing club, the combination of a head having a striking face,and formed of a molded composition having a tendency to shrink incooling or hardening, and a ferrule adapted to receive the end of ashaft, said ferrule having a neck portion and a downwardly extendingportion in 'alinement therewith, embedded in said head, said portionhaving a longitudinally ribbed surface and a lower end beveled to lieapproximately parallel to the bottom face of said head and somewhatabove the same, substantially as set forth. v

3. In a playing club, the combination of of a molded composition havinga tendency to shrink in cooling or hardening, and a ferrule adapted toreceive the end of a shaft, said ferrule having a neck portion and adownwardly extending portion in alinement therewith, embedded in saidhead, said portion having a longitudinally ribbed surface and atransverse shoulder thereon, substantially as set forth.

4. In a playing club, the combination of a head having a striking face,and formed of a molded composition, having a tendency to shrink incooling or hardening, and a metal ferrule adapted to receive the end ofa shaft,

said ferrule having a neck portion and a portion in alinement therewith,embedded in said head, said embedded portion having peripherally-spacedprotuberances on its surface extending into the composition of the head,with the composition engaging the surface of the ferrule between saidprotuberances, and said neck portion constituting an extended bearingtube of thin, resilient metal, substantially as set forth.

5. In a playing club, the combination of a head having a striking face,and formed of a molded composition having a tendency to shrink incooling or hardening, and a ferrule adapted to receive the end of ashaft, said ferrule having a neck portion and a downwardly extendingportion in alinementtherewith, embedded in said head, said portionhaving a longitudinallv ribbed surface, substantially as set forth.

This specification signed and witnessed this 30th day of July, 1915.

HERBERT V. HARDMAN.

Witnesses HENRY L. DENISON, J. II. COEYMAN.

